Henry Purcell was one of the greatest English composers to have ever lived. Today, he is still held in high esteem by the British. Between him and Elgar, there was practically a large void in English composers of the international caliber.

This disc is my first serious trip into the world of Purcell's music. The only previous piece I remember listening to was this Trumpet Tune in D, in one of those "Intro to Classical music" CDs my parents bought when I was in grade school. Turns out, the piece wasn't by Purcell, but by this other second-rate composer Jeremiah Clarke.

The recording comprises of the 12 sonatas in 3 parts, published in 1683. Purcell's other music is heavily influenced by the French, including overtures and dance forms. Here, Purcell presents a conscious effort to compose in the Italian trio sonata fashion. In a preface, he writes that he "has faithfully endeavour'd a just imitation of the most fam'd Italian masters; principally to bring the Seriousness and gravity of that sort of musick into vogue, and reputation among our Country-man, whose humour, 'tis time now, should begin to loathe the levity and balladry of our [French] neighbours." That's some big switching of sides we are talking about here.

Purcell's so-called Italian masters did not refer to the latest up-to-date Corellian trio sonata models, but instead the older ones the likes of Legrenzi or Colista. The main difference is that while the newer ones commonly involve 2 violins with a simpler bass continuo, the older ones have an extra active bass line that is on equal terms with the violins. Therefore, Purcells sonatas are scored for 2 violins, viola da gamba, and continuo. He does not count the continuo as a "real part." Further evidence that Purcell was using an older style was the labeling of certain sections of the sonatas "canzona," a very outdated musical form in the European continent at the time.

Purcell taking up an interest in Italian music can be explained by his immense love for counterpoint, and these sonatas contain loads of that. Besides dense contrapuntal writing that orignates from English consort music, Purcell also introduces the Italian fugal style, where a single motif enters via one part and is expanded to all the other parts, employing all the techniques of fugal writing. Purcell was a very good composer of counterpoint, and it certainly shows in these pieces.

What makes these pieces unmistakably English is the abundance of dissonance and harmonic progression, which the Italian composers of Purcell's time had already long given up by then. This music is certainly unique, as the flow of the music is against your common expectations, if you are listening this to the first time. Certainly, when I first encountered this, it confounded me quite a bit, which was also part of its attraction. Unfortunately for me, music like this never builds enough emotion to go anywhere. Just when you think that it starts going, the momentum is interrupted by a dissonant chord, and this practically happens all the time. The feel I get is a widespread sense of melancholy and sadness in the music. It's rich-sounding music that nonetheless gives you some hard time recalling it after you are finished listening to it.

London Baroque an established experienced English chamber music ensemble, which I reviewed earlier in the Pachelbel recording. Their approach to the music is more or less straightforward and direct. They play at brisker tempi, with a clean sound and strong bowing. While they are a bit conservative by not showing flexibility in phrase turns as much as the younger musicians, Purcell's music itself is enough to provide the twists and turns. London Baroque's performance gives enough vitality to the music, which is not a simple thing to do for this type of music. Before a knockout recording comes along, this remains a top choice for this music.

2 comments:

I own the 3-part and 4-part sonatas both by Christopher Hogwood; one recording features Beznosiuk and Podger; the other I believe Huggett or Mackintosh (it's an older AAM release). I find the music a tad melancholy. I prefer the violins to the reading on viols by Phantasm, who got quite a bit of recognition for their Fantasias album on Simax.

Without listening to LB, my guess is they'd have a solid performance, likely with tempi on par or faster with AAM.

yeah... there's something about the pervasive sadness in English Baroque music. I've sampled through some of AAM's recording, which I don't own, and they are actually comparable in terms of tempi. I have another powerful, more full-blooded reading of the Sonata in 4 Parts by the Locke Consort.